Action Alert – Thursday, March 31, 2005

Today’s Action comes from the Natural Resources Defense Council:
Kimberly-Clark is one of the largest disposable paper product companies in the world, producing the popular Kleenex, Scott, Viva, and Cottonelle brand facial tissues, toilet paper, and paper towels. Although Kimberly-Clark claims to be an environmental corporate leader, the company manufactures the vast majority of its disposable tissue paper products from freshly cut trees instead of from recycled fiber.
Many of the trees used in Kimberly-Clark products are logged in Canada’s pristine boreal forest, an ancient forest that stretches across the country and is home to hundreds of wildlife species, including moose, caribou, lynx, bears, wolves, eagles, hawks, owls, and 30 percent of North America’s songbirds. What this effectively means is that Canada’s boreal forest is being destroyed to manufacture products that are used only once and then thrown away (often down the toilet).
What to do:
Send a message urging Kimberly-Clark to stop destroying Canada’s boreal forest and to switch to post-consumer recycled materials for its paper products.
Here’s a sample letter:
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Thomas Falk

Chief Executive Officer

Kimberly-Clark Corporation

351 Phelps Dr.

Irving, TX 75038

Dear Mr. Falk:
�I am concerned about the lack of recycled content in your tissue products, and urge you to increase the post-consumer recycled content in these products, especially in the brands that I regularly see in the store (and purchase) such as Kleenex, Scott, Viva, and Cottonelle.
Kimberly-Clark is one of the leading tissue paper manufacturers in the world, yet your at-home products have roughly only 19 percent post-consumer recycled content. Most of the Kimberly-Clark products that I see in the grocery store do not have any recycled content at all.
I oppose destroying natural forests such as the boreal forest in Canada to produce toilet paper, paper towels, and facial tissues. Canada’s boreal forest is a natural treasure of global significance whose health is critical to the survival of both people and wildlife.
A commitment from Kimberly-Clark to protect, and not destroy, these forests is long overdue. Again, I urge you to increase the post-consumer recycled content in your company’s paper products.
Sincerely,
Your Name
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Thanks for taking today’s action!